Cold as a ....

Okay so you finish the sentence. Here in the Chocolate City (and the Vanilla Suburbs) the weather illuminati are calling for snow and ice this weekend. In keeping with that, here's some cold-weather sports stuff.

First off, Bode Miller.
This guy scorched the men's field at the world skiing championships in Bormio, Italy. He's already got the lead in the World Cup alpine standings, no small feat for an American skier. And then Saturday he beats the best in the men's Super-G, finishing in 1:27.55. The Austrian automatons -- Michael Walchhofer, Benjamin Raich, and Hermann "the Hermanator" Maier -- could only watch.

Walchhofer finished second, Raich third and Maier fourth. Miller won six of the first 10 races this year, and then failed to finish in his last five events. Saturday, he showed 'em what fer and on a hill that humbles even the best. The Winter Olympics are a year away, and all I can say is It's Miller Time.

FIS-Ski Homepage

Speaking of the Winter Olympics ....

Irina Slutskaya and her Russian teammates have shown that Michelle Kwan and any other American skater better spend some real ice time before next year. Slutskaya won her sixth European figure skating championship in Turin this week,(Euro FS Championships : Home) and joined Sonja Henie and Katarina Witt (still smokin' after all these years) as the only women to win the crown six times.

Also, Evgeni Plushenko took the men's crown and looked like he would rather be somewhere else. Have you checked this guy out? I mean he dusts the floor with the competition but looks like he'd rather be home playing his Game Boy or driving his car or something. But much respect, the man can skate, and any hopes of anyone beating him -- including Timothy Goebel or any other American -- have a dewdrop's chance in hell. Russians also took the pairs and the ice dance titles in Turin.